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What would you do if you found Steve Martin's wallet lying on the street in downtown Wilkes-Barre?

One area native found himself facing just that question Tuesday morning. His answer? Returning the wallet to the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts on Public Square. His reward? A personal - and later public - thank-you from the musician and comedian.

"I had a great bit of fortune in your city today. Did you see this in the news? THAT is a slow news day," Martin said during his Tuesday night concert at the center, acknowledging the good Samaritan who found his wallet. "I didn't even have a joke for him. I said, 'Oh, thank you.'"

"So thank you Wilkes-Barre. My impression of Wilkes-Barre is everyone is 100 percent honest, all of the time."

Will Beekman, director of programming at the Kirby, said Tuesday a man called the box office around 10 a.m. to report he found the wallet after Martin lost it while bicycling around the city.

"I think everyone's original thought was it some sort of a joke. But just to be safe, we asked the tour manager," Beekman said.

The tour manager said it was quite possible that it belonged to Martin and the man agreed to bring the wallet to the Kirby Center box office.

"In the time that we were waiting for him to return, Mr. Martin comes walking out into our box office, and asks if the gentleman had shown up with the wallet yet. We told him he had not, but that we were expecting him very soon. And he said, 'When he gets here, can you make sure that I get to meet him and thank him personally?'"

A few minutes later, the man came by and they took him back to meet Martin.

"Steve got the chance to thank him personally," Beekman said, adding while they did not get the man's name, they were touched by his honesty. "It's just a feel-good story. It's nice to know there's good people out there."

A few hours after his wallet's return, Martin took to his Twitter account to comment: "An honest man is found in Wilkes-Barre! Thank you, sir!"

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